BuDS Annual Report 2022/23

The BuDS Annual Report covering the period of April 2022 – March 2023 was published on 31 January 2024. The Chair of Trustees’ Introduction is below, and you can read the full report and all its annexes using the buttons below.

Chair’s Introduction

Buckinghamshire Disability Service (BuDS) is the county’s leading disability charity and its only independent pan-disability organisation. Our visionary aim is to abolish disability by building a world which is Fair4All, free of the barriers which disable people. We are led by disabled people and committed to the social model of disability.

Uniquely, BuDS is a working community of over 100 volunteers who work together, supported by staff, to achieve our goals. Our 19 projects, many of which are unique to the county, empower thousands of disabled adults, young people and children across Buckinghamshire and permanently remove the barriers facing disabled people so that they can live and work independently.

BuDS is a highly diverse and inclusive charity both in terms of disability and intersectionality, and diversity and inclusion are core values. BuDS is also a significant youth charity in and around Buckinghamshire, with around 25 disabled young people (18-25) as volunteers in 2022-23 and a strong project focus on children and young people.

We tackle the issues which most affect disabled people in and around Buckinghamshire by whatever means necessary. Our Disability Services help disabled people directly, while our Fair4All projects bring about permanent change to the built environment, structures, systems and infrastructure so that disabled people do not face barriers to living independently. Our Reach4Work projects help disabled jobseekers into work and education. All our work is evidence-based, project-led and responds to the real needs of disabled people. The expertise of our professional volunteers mean we can often punch above our weight.

Because Covid-19 remains a real risk and huge barrier to inclusion for millions of disabled and clinically vulnerable people, BuDS is one of the few UK charities which continues to provide information, guidance and support around Covid issues. We have a deserved national reputation as a highly respected and reliable source of Covid-19 information used by tens of thousands of people.

Huge thanks are due to our Trustees, staff and volunteers who have given so much of their time and talents, and to our funders who have shown such confidence in our work.